Past Haunts Police Department

November 25, 1999

City Council members were stunned to learn last week that for eight years a police officer had hidden the files of her investigation into complaints that a former city employee had fondled young female members of the softball team he coached.

This is the same Marine Safety chief whose groping and abusive comments toward two female lifeguards led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year costing the city more than $1 million in fines and legal fees.

Now we know that police were investigating accusations of sexual impropriety against the manager at the same time the City Council voted to reject the lifeguards' $50,000 settlement offer. Had they known about the other probe, several of those same council members now say they may have settled during that vote in the summer of 1990.

At the time, the case was not prosecuted because the witnesses declined to testify, the investigating police officer said. When police ended their investigation, the files should have been stored properly in the Records Department, not in the officer's files.

Former council members were outraged that they were not told, though the former city manager said he informed them. They described it as a missed opportunity to save the city money.

The real problem is potentially more serious. The files that disappeared for eight years were an invaluable record of the police work done. It's not unusual for new evidence to surface in a case, re-opening an investigation. The alternative is re-interviewing witnesses with faded memories and track down those who have moved on. Complete, readily available records become invaluable.

Unfortunately, it shouldn't be shocking that the city Police Department improperly handled records. Police were accused in 1998 of downgrading serious crimes such as rape to show as misdemeanors and minor incidents in the city's annual crime reports for several years in a row.

Both incidents occurred under the 15-year tenure of former police Chief Peter Petracco, who resigned in May 1998. The new chief, Andrew Scott, has carved out a reputation as a professional who is responsive to concerns.

Events like those of last week show that ghosts from the previous administration continue to haunt the Police Department. Scott should make it clear that, unlike his predecessor, he will not have a cavalier attitude toward the way the department handles police documents.